


Easy Morning

by Toe



Category: The Letter (Visual Novel)
Genre: Domestic Fluff, Multi, there's also a background implied barest hint of marianne/hannah
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-03
Updated: 2017-09-03
Packaged: 2018-12-23 08:23:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,364
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11985963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Toe/pseuds/Toe
Summary: Zach makes pancakes.





	Easy Morning

Zach cracked his neck, his knuckles, his back, grunting as they all gave satisfying pops. He felt stiff in that way he always did when he had been sitting too long, absorbed in his work as he lost track of the hours. Stretching his arms above his head wasn’t enough to keep the feeling at bay anymore. He needed a break.

Zach checked the clock and sighed. At some sly hour, late had turned into early. He hadn’t even realized how much time had passed - digital editing had never been his strong suit; there was a romance to more traditional photography which he clung to with the sort of craziness that could only be called love, but his client had insisted. As a result, he only sort of knew what he was doing, which meant his work had taken much longer than it should have and he was egregiously late for his bedtime.

The rest of his work could wait. Zach snapped his laptop shut.

Zach crept down the hallway like a lumbering hippopotamus, trying desperately not to disturb the others, who should have been fast asleep. Sure enough, when he eased open the door to the bedroom, the dawn light revealed the three dreaming away, tangled in a chaotic knot of sheets and limbs.

Isabella and Ashton always had these exchanges about which of them hogged the covers more. Tonight, it looked like Ashton was the hog, with most of the blanket bunched up to prop up his left leg with most of the rest of it draped across his torso. Only a small corner was left for Becca, but she looked cozy enough with one of Ashton’s arms draped across her and Bella pressed against her other side.

Zach smiled at them, overwhelmed by fondness. He wanted to join them. He would liberate the blanket from beneath Ash’s leg to redistribute evenly. He might rouse Ash, but Ash, who had never been a morning person, would be too tired to protest. He’d cuddle up to Zach and be back asleep within minutes. Rebecca and Isabella, too, would be lulled back to sleep easily enough, especially with their proper allotment of covers. As much as Zach treasured every cozy moment he spent surrounded by the warmth and easy breaths of the three people he loved most in the world, he didn’t want to disturb them so late. Hell, at this hour, Isabella would already be awake if it weren’t the weekend. They all deserved a little more peace.

Zach slipped out of the room. He wasn’t that tired, anyway. If the others were going to be waking up soon, he could greet them with a warm breakfast. Nothing too fancy - they desperately needed to go grocery shopping - but they always had the ingredients for pancakes on hand.

Zach bustled around the kitchen, gathering all the ingredients he’d need. Flour, eggs, milk, baking soda. He hadn’t even started mixing the ingredients together when Isabella joined him in the kitchen, announcing her presence with a great yawn.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Zach greeted. “Hope I didn’t wake you.”

Isabella shook her head. “S’okay. I was already half awake, anyway.” She was quite a sight standing there, hair unbrushed and dwarfed by one of Zach’s sweaters, which was falling off one shoulder. She had made a habit of stealing his clothes to sleep in ever since she had tried them on as a joke when they had moved in. He had laughed at the time, but lately, as he had given up protesting, he could only sigh.

“Good.” Zach wrapped an arm around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze before turning his focus back to the pancakes.

Bella studied the ingredients on the counter “Pancakes? Want some help?”

“Yeah, pancakes. And I’ll take any help I can get.”

Before he had even given his blessing, Isabella joined him, fetching a mixing bowl and measuring cups.

Ashton chose then to make his grand entrance. “Morning, Angelface. I heard you need help? Well, your knight in shining armor has arrived,” he said with an almost drunken slur to his voice, finishing with a wink and finger guns. Since they had started dating, Ash had finally, finally stopped calling him Z-man. Unfortunately, he had replaced the habit with a string of unfortunate pet names, and he didn’t let up even in public. Ash made no secret of delighting in watching Zach squirm and blush, and he could only be convinced to stop by Becca’s icy glares.

“Oh no you don’t!” Bella said, wagging a wooden spoon at Ash. When he only blinked at her, she bodily steered him to the kitchen table and motioned towards a chair. “You can just sit here.”

“Hold up, what’s going on? It’s too early for this,” Ash protested.

“Too early to remember your lifetime ban on helping in the kitchen?” Bella ribbed.

“Oh, Zach needed help cooking? Well, that’s embarrassing.”

“Your whole life is embarrassing, dude,” Zach said.

Bella gave Ash a patronizing pat on the head. “Just leave this to the pros.”

The two returned to the pancakes and lost themselves in the routine of it, measuring out ingredients and mixing and soon the griddle was hot and the batter was ready.

“Is something wrong, Zach?” Isabella asked when Zach hesitated to pour the batter.

“It’s just-- it feels wrong to start without Becca, is all.”

Bella pouted, placing a hand on her hip. “Let’s get started. I’m sure Becca doesn’t want batter for breakfast.”

“No, she’ll want her pancakes hot and fresh. And you’re only saying that because you want to eat,” Zach teased.

“Hey, that’s-- Ash, back me up here?”

“Food,” Ashton corroborated.

“See?” Bella said triumphantly.

Outnumbered, Zach started on the pancakes. While he watched them cook, Bella set the table, and soon, they were seated with a stack of pancakes in front of them, ready to eat.

“That smells incredible.” Becca’s voice floated in from the hallway, followed shortly by the woman herself. She lifted an eyebrow when she spotted Zachary seated at the table. “I thought you had work that was going to keep you up late?”

“I’m still awake, actually, which is why I thought I’d make breakfast for you all,” Zach explained sheepishly. Even though she hadn’t broken out her teacher voice, he still felt guilty. He knew it upset her when he didn’t take care of himself.

“I helped,” Bella said through a mouthful of food.

Becca pressed a kiss into the top of his head as she passed him on the way to her seat. “Well, it’s certainly hard to be mad at you when I’m greeted by this. Just as long as you’re awake for D&D with Hannah and Marianne later.”

Aston watched as Becca forked a couple pancakes onto her plate. “Well, now that you’ve gotten your share. Hey, Bella, wanna see who can eat more?”

“Oh, you’re on,” Bella said, shoving half of a pancake into her mouth.

Becca frowned and muttered, “I don’t see why I can’t be part of this little contest. I’d blow you both out of the water.”

“Bring it, cutie pants,” Ash challenged.

“Wait, now, hold up, you guys,” Zach protested. “You can’t just declare a contest like this. You need to set some ground rules, first.”

The kitchen table turned into a war zone, forks clashing, syrup splattering every surface, pancakes felled left and right. Unfortunately, they had to call the competition a draw due to limited pancake supplies.

Stomach full and an irrepressible smile on his face, Zach excused himself from the table. “This has been nice, but--”

“Nice?” Ashton cut in incredulously. “This has been a sham. I deserve the title of Pancake King and it gets ripped away by a technicality.”

“Right. Anyway, I’m going to go squeeze in a nap before D&D.”

“He’s only satisfied because he was losing,” Isabella protested.

“Anyway, night,” Zach said, slipping away from the chaos.

Rebecca smiled slyly. “We could always whip up another batch. See if you’re true to your word.”

“I wouldn’t say no to more,” Bella said.

“Son of a bitch,” Ash said. “Did he just leave us with the dishes?”

**Author's Note:**

> i'm up past my bedtime so sorry if this is rushed, but i was so eager to share the love <3 i've got so many headcanons for these kids
> 
> becca probs starts dnd playing as a cleric or something because she thought it seemed useful but ended up making a second character, some sort of barbarian???? idk anything about dnd, but she gets frustrated with her first character because some problems are best solved with a good whack to the head.  
> zach def plays as some sort of warrior/hero. a straightforward sort. he's just so happy to be helping fantasy fictional people in a fantasy fictional world.  
> pls share ideas about the characters the rest of the crew would play!!!!!


End file.
